Thursday

That seemed to be the message emanating from the Eagles locker room — that the Eagles defense under Juan Castillo became too predictable and that is why there were seven fourth-quarter leads that turned into losses in the 22 games Castillo served as the DC.

Linebacker Jamar Chaney said that was one of the first things Bowles said to the team when he met with them earlier in the week. That the team will not be predictable.

“He is going to bring it all,” said Chaney. “The main thing is he doesn’t want the offense to know exactly what we’re going to do. If they make plays, he doesn’t want it to be because they know what we’re doing. He wants it to be so when it’s fourth-quarter time, the Eagles still have a lot of stuff they can still throw at you so you still don’t know what we’re doing.

“It’s hard to beat teams, especially the Steelers — they’ve got Ben Roethlisberger — and the Falcons with Matt Ryan, you can’t beat quarterbacks like that if they know what you’re doing. This is a quarterback-driven league and you have to change it up on those guys. The good defenses do a good job of disguising things, and that’s something we have to do better on defense.”

Asante Asante

Given the opportunity to speak to the reporters that covered him in Philadelphia for the four years he spent with the Eagles, cornerback Asante Samuel declined, saying that he would be available to talk after Sunday’s game.

He was traded days before April’s draft for a seventh-round draft pick, which the Birds turned into running back Bryce Brown. Samuel has 23 tackles and one interception, but it was one he returned 79 yards for a touchdown.

Head coach Andy Reid didn’t want to say much about the challenge Samuel will present.

“I know he’s going to come to play,” said Reid. “I know that. He’ll be excited. I know he’s a good football player. I’ll let you take care of that.”

Falcons head coach Mike Smith is leaning on Samuel for some intelligence about his former team.

“I think he can give us some insight on some players, not necessarily the scheme,” said Smith. “He can tell you about the receivers. He’s gone up against them all the time in one-on-ones. He can probably tell us about the DBs, and he has. We’re going to try to get as much information as we can.”

Your call

Verizon Wireless and the Eagles announced they will once again assist victims of domestic violence in the area. For the ninth consecutive year, fans are encouraged to donate no-longer-used wireless devices and chargers, from any provider, to the HopeLine from Verizon program, prior to Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

HopeLine collection bins will be set-up at the entrance of Lincoln Financial Field as well as the club and suite gate entrances, and employee check-in and press gates. Collections can be dropped off when the gates open at 10 a.m., until kickoff at 1 p.m.

“Most of us have old devices lying around the house, whether they’re cell phones or chargers that we don’t use anymore,” said Eagles President Don Smolenski. “We are encouraging everyone to spend a few minutes digging them out because together we can make a huge impact. We’re proud to say that Eagles fans have donated over 5,000 phones through the annual game-day collections and we’re hoping to build on that number this year.”

The King

The first start of King Dunlap’s career came two years ago against the Falcons, and he acquitted himself well against Atlanta pass rusher John Abraham. Now, he will return to the stating lineup for the first time since the second week of the season, fully recovered from a hamstring strain he suffered in that game against the Ravens.

“That was then, this is now, so I still have to come out and I can’t ride high on my laurels just from that game,” said Dunlap. “I still have to work hard to be ready for Sunday. I feel like I’ve improved.”

Interestingly, the Eagles went 2-0 with Dunlap as the starter and 1-3 since he’s been out of the lineup.

This ‘n that

Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said he received a $21,000 fine from the NFL for the punch he threw that led to his ejection against the Lions.

The Falcons may be 6-0 but they haven’t beaten anybody with a winning record. The closest they have come to that are wins over the Broncos and Chargers, both at 3-3. The combined record of their vanquished opponents is 13-24.

Conversely, the Eagles have beaten two teams with winning records in the Giants and Ravens and their opponents so far are 20-20.

Everyone practiced Wednesday, including safety Nate Allen, who left the Lions game midway through with a hamstring strain.